Haslam was also joined by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), Speaker Pro Tem Curtis Johnson (R-Clarksville), Clarksville Mayor Kim McMillan, Montgomery County Mayor Carolyn Bowers, Tennessee State Veterans Homes Director Ed Harries and Tennessee State Veterans Homes Board Chairperson Mary Ross as well as several members of the Tennessee State Veterans Homes Board.

The new state veterans home will be located at 250 Arrowood Drive in Clarksville. Construction on the new site is scheduled to begin in August.

“We are incredibly thankful for the service and sacrifice by these men and women, and we’re excited to break ground on this facility that will serve the veteran community in Clarksville and Montgomery County,” Haslam said. “Tennessee is raising the bar on long-term health care for veterans at the three existing Tennessee State Veterans Homes, and we look forward to serving even more of the veteran population who has given so much of themselves.”

“The men and women who have worn the uniform of our Armed Services have ensured that the rest of us can exercise our freedoms daily,” Alexander said. “We owe our veterans a debt of gratitude and couldn’t possibly do enough to honor their sacrifice, but serving them at this facility is a stepp Tennesseans can be proud to take.”

The Ben Atchley State Veterans Home in Knoxville and Tennessee State Veterans Home in Murfreesboro have both been listed among the best nursing homes in the country in the U.S. News & World Report 2013. Both received a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2012.

The application to begin the process to build the new state veterans home began in 2004. Since then, the State of Tennessee Real Estate Asset Management (STREAM) Division with the Tennessee Department of General Services, the Tennessee State Veterans Homes Board and Montgomery County government officials considered and evaluated 13 different sites before the Arrowood Drive property was purchased for approximately $475,000.

The site was approved by federal and state agencies and was donated by the county to be used as the future site for the new state veterans home. The State of Tennessee accepted and closed on the property on April 19th, 2013.

Montgomery County and the City of Clarksville each contributed $750,000 to the project. The State Home Construction Grant Program with the United States Department of Veterans Affairs has contributed $14.6 million.

The State of Tennessee has contributed $10.8 million to the Montgomery County Tennessee State Veterans Home project to include $4.3 million in Governor Haslam’s budget for fiscal year 2013-2014.

“Although the Tennessee State Veterans Homes are self-sufficient after admissions begin, it takes a large amount of partnership, collaboration and contributions from federal, state and local agencies to construct new state veterans homes,” Grinder said. “This groundbreaking milestone is exciting because this will give Montgomery County’s veterans a high-quality of life option when around the clock health care is needed.”

The Montgomery County Tennessee State Veterans Home is expected to open in the first quarter of 2015.

For more information about the Tennessee Department of Veterans Affairs and existing State Veterans Cemeteries, visit the department’s website at www.tn.gov/veteran, facebook.com/myTDVA or stay up to date by following the department on twitter @TNDVA.